Tiger Woods 'excited' by return to competitive action

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Tiger Woods admitted that he would be "rusty" on his return at the Quicken Loans National.

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Tiger Woods says he has recovered from back injury

Woods will make his competitive return at the Quicken Loans National

The 38-year-old Woods missed The Masters and the U.S. Open

The third major of the season -- the British Open -- starts on July 17

He's been out of competitive action for most of 2014, but Tiger Woods will return to golf next week.

Woods, who underwent back surgery to repair a pinched nerve in March, will play at his own Quicken Loans National event at the Congressional Country Club as he begins his preparations for the third major of the season -- the British Open.

"After a lot of therapy I have recovered well and will be supporting my foundation next week at the Quicken Loans National," said Woods on his Facebook page.

"I've just started to hit full shots but it's time to take the next step. I will be a bit rusty but I want to play myself back into competitive shape. Excited for the challenge ahead."

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Woods was forced to miss The Masters in April as well as the U.S. Open in June as the 14-time major champion recovered from surgery.

The 38-year-old's last major victory came at the 2008 U.S. Open.

He has now missed six major championships through injury, his absence at Augusta the first time he'd not been at the Masters since making his debut there as an amateur in 1995.

Stuck on 14 majors since 2008, Woods has two more chances this season to close in on Jack Nicklaus' record haul of 18.

Staged at Hoylake in north west England this year, the Open starts on 17 July.

McIlroy misses cut

Days after saying he would represent Ireland -- not Great Britain -- at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Rory McIlroy failed to make the cut at the Irish Open.

A poor first round of 3-over-par 74 immediately put McIlroy under pressure and even with a 2-under 69 Friday, he missed out on the weekend's action.

McIlroy -- the highest-ranked golfer in the field at No. 6 -- needed to hit an eagle on the final hole to make the cut but could only produce a birdie.

"It's very frustrating," McIlroy, who also missed the cut in 2013, told the European Tour's website. "To make six birdies and an eagle and shoot just two under means there were a lot of mistakes and wasteful shots.

"I just need to tighten it all up and become a lot more consistent, make the bad shots a little bit better and not be as wasteful around the greens. If I can do that, I know my game is right there. I've got a couple weeks off now to work on my game a little bit, play some links golf and get ready for the Scottish Open and the (British) Open."